Newly endorsed by the ScaleUp Institute in 2021, Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC) backs world-leading life sciences and technology companies with an affiliation to Cambridge. It was founded in 2013 by the University of Cambridge to create a trusted local firm that would provide early stage capital to promising life sciences and technology businesses emerging from the university – for which it is a preferred investor – and the Cambridge ecosystem. With two universities, multiple leading research institutes, 109 Nobel Prize winners, and R&D departments of over 60 multinational businesses, Cambridge has generated 17 billion-dollar businesses, three of which have been valued at over $10bn.

In April 2019, it announced its £275m venture fund to invest in disruptive, deep-tech businesses in sectors such as AI, IoT, quantum technologies, autonomous systems, therapeutics, medtech/diagnostics, digital health and genomics/proteomics. CIC has committed £170m of these funds to 30 deep tech and life sciences companies, deploying funds in 2020 into four new and 12 existing portfolio companies. The portfolio includes one company valued in excess of £1bn. Notable scaleups that CIC has supported include CMR Surgical and Congenica.

CIC has worked closely with stakeholders in the ecosystem – such as the Babraham Research Campus, endorsed by the ScaleUp Institute – to establish new accelerators, such as Start Codon (founded in 2019) for life sciences and healthcare businesses which aims to speed up the process of going from “bench to product” and offers investment, mentoring and access to research infrastructure including laboratory space. CIC has also helped to establish, and co-owns, the DeepTechlabs accelerator for technology businesses, providing hands-on support to bridge the gap between translational research and ‘Series A’ ready businesses. Cambridge Innovation Capital will benefit from pre-emption rights in companies participating in the accelerators.

Its team brings to its portfolio companies deep domain and operational expertise from its past experiences as entrepreneurs, scientists, operators and investors. The team takes a hands-on approach including board participation, business planning and development, executive recruitment, commercialisation and scale up.

It has been endorsed as an exemplar of how universities and financiers can collaborate to support their scaleup communities.

Newly endorsed by the ScaleUp Institute in 2021, Frog Capital is a scaleup stage investor focused on software-enabled businesses in Europe. It invests in companies with revenues of €3m – €30m and requiring €5m – €20m of growth capital. To date, it has invested in over 60 companies around Europe. Their most recent fund, the €150m Frog European Growth II, was announced in 2019.

The firm selects software companies that deliver in two main areas: smart data or digital infrastructure. Notable scaleups in its portfolio include SHE Software, Azimo and Rated People. The firm has backed – and exited from – scaleups such as Skimlinks, ip.access, and Dealflo.

Frog Capital has been endorsed as an exemplar of a fund that is acting as “a scaleup partner,” tailoring its support to match the unique needs of each business, helping with senior-level recruitment and introducing portfolio CEOs to other investment partners from their network. The firm’s website offers dedicated pages with scaleup insights, including thought leadership and toolkits to support and help scaleups on their growth journey. The firm has defined major elements which are essential for any CEO to succeed in the scaleup phase, and they provide expert guidance on execution, planning, strategy and resilience. 

Between January 2014 to June 2021, the firm has invested a total of £128m in 11 fundraising rounds in nine UK companies, with eight of those being growth-stage investments.

Newly endorsed by the ScaleUp Institute in 2021, MMC has a strong track record in supporting scaleups. The firm manages funds for private individuals and institutions and has over $500m under management. It backs “transformative” technology companies, investing approximately £30m per annum in new investments and follow-on capital.

Founded in 2000, MMC targets an initial investment of £1-5m and can support further growth of “knowledge intensive companies” with up to £20m. Its £100m Scale-Up Fund, launched in November 2019, provides expansion capital to portfolio companies once they have grown beyond the limits of EIS investment, and can also participate in secondary transactions, offering liquidity to early MMC and third-party investors. 

Notable scaleups it has backed to date include Gousto, Interactive Investor, NewVoiceMedia and Bloom & Wild. 

Portfolio companies benefit from a peer learning network programme, where companies are paired with a relevant counterpart to meet/zoom for one hour each month for six months -and there is also the flexibility to tailor the relationship to suit their individual needs.

MMC also assists investee companies in areas including international expansion, senior hiring, access to potential clients, corporate governance, fundraising, bank finance and exit. Its research team works closely with investee company founders to help businesses grow. Themed events are hosted regularly and podcasts and videos are available on their website.

Newly endorsed by the ScaleUp Institute in 2021, the Scottish Enterprise Growth Investment Team (formerly known as Scottish Investment Bank) is the investment arm of Scottish Enterprise, Scotland’s national economic development agency. It operates across Scotland, working in partnership with Highlands and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise, seeking to ensure that businesses with growth and export potential have adequate access to growth capital, including equity and debt. 

SE Growth Investment Team supports companies to prepare to raise and access finance, provides a financial readiness service to help companies identify and secure appropriate sources of finance, and supports investee companies on an ongoing basis through portfolio management. 

Managing a suite of investment funds and working closely with private sector investors, SE Growth Investment Team’s evidence-based market interventions increase the supply of finance for companies in Scotland.

Its Scottish Co-Investment Fund (SCF) matches accredited investment partners up to a maximum of 50% of the total funding package, providing from £10,000 up to £1.5m in deal sizes typically ranging from £20,000 up to £10m, and its Scottish Venture Fund also invests alongside sophisticated private sector investors.

Since 2003, SE Growth Investment Team has made 314 investments and 40 lead investments. It has invested £505m and leveraged over £1.4bn in private sector investment. Since 2011, it has contributed to 23 investments in 11 scaleup companies, worth more than £50m. Notable scaleups that have been supported include FanDuel, Symphonic, and Cyberhawk.

SE Growth Investment Team has been endorsed for its support of high growth businesses in their scaleup journey and its promotion of emerging sectors. SE Growth Investment Team plays an active role as a co-investor such as its work with the Scottish Angel ecosystem. With wider support from Scottish Enterprise, SE Growth Investment Team is an exemplar of a rounded local ecosystem approach to scaleup growth.

Describing itself as a “global partnership to work with the most innovative companies,” Accel is an early and growth-stage VC firm which invests in technology companies in the US, Europe and India.

Between January 2014 to June 2021, the fund participated in 65 fundraisings for 32 UK-based companies. By amounts raised, the scaleups that Accel has provided the greatest financial support have been Deliveroo, Snyk, Monzo, Hopin and World Remit. Just over a year since it announced its seed round, Hopin’s August 2021 $400m Series C round at a $5.65bn valuation made it the fastest growing company by value in history.

Other scaleups in which it has recently invested include fintechs Soldo and Genesis, cybersecurity firm Tessian, Lyst, Weave, ChaosIQ and Primer. Between January 2014 to June 2021, the average turnover of companies supported by Accel was £90.6m with an estimated average number of 257 employees. 

The great majority of Accel’s investments in the UK are in companies based in London but in the past 12 months it has invested in north-west companies Causal and Raycast.

With offices in San Francisco, London and India, the firm uses its network to enable portfolio companies to hire senior leaders, expand into new markets, and provide introductions to new customers. Accel runs events for its portfolio to encourage the sharing of best practice, such as its global SaaStock event, and publishes its annual Euroscape which lists the top 100 SaaS companies in Europe and Israel.

Amadeus Capital Partners is a global technology investor that invests in companies requiring early investment and growth capital with global potential. Alongside investment Amadeus supports scaling businesses with technical insight, operational experience and access to a global network. They connect portfolio companies to additional support for innovation and growth including access to mentors and NEDs. 

In the period between January 2014 to June 2021, the firm invested a total of £930m in 47 UK-based companies in 83 rounds of fundraising. The average investment was £11.3m.

The firm follows three investment strategies: providing seed, start-up and scaleup capital for early stage companies with exceptional IP based in, or growing from the UK; primary and secondary investments in high-growth technology companies; and growth capital investments in tech-enabled consumer and business services in emerging markets. Its areas of focus cover AI & machine learning, online consumer services, cyber security, digital health and medical technology, digital media, enterprise SaaS, fintech, regtech and insurtech. 

The firm has offices in Cambridge, London, San Francisco and Cape Town. It is a partner with the British Business Bank on the Enterprise Capital Fund programme. Its latest £110m Amadeus V Technology Fund includes a cornerstone commitment by British Patient Capital. One-third of the firm’s early stage investment team are women.

Notable scaleups in their current portfolio include Graphcore, FiveAI, Congenica, Sprout.ai and Seldon.

Founded in 2000, Balderton Capital focuses on Series A and B investments into European and US technology companies. It has backed more than 230 companies. It typically invests between $1-$20m into “companies with the potential to disrupt huge industries, and the ambition to scale globally” and says that it takes a long-term approach.

The fund primarily invests in businesses based in the UK, US and Europe. It takes a broad sector focus on technology and the internet as a whole but does not invest in life sciences or cleantech. In the 18 months since January 2020, 22 new companies have joined the Balderton portfolio, and the firm has made over 45 follow-on investments.

Around 80% of their investments in UK companies between January 2014 to June 2021 were at growth stage. Notable scaleups in the firm’s portfolio include Graphcore, Zego, Revolut, Nested, Lyst and Tessian. 

In 2021, the firm launched its first “fully-fledged” growth fund. The sector-agnostic Balderton Growth I will target approximately 15 companies at the early-growth stage and the firm expects to invest between $25m and $50m per company through both primary and secondary investments.

The firm has a “Build platform” to provide talent, marketing, finance and legal services to support companies as they scale, and to connect founders and their team to an active peer community. The firm provides guidance on talent acquisition and global expansion, as well as publishing guides on topics such as employee equity schemes and optimising board structures. Scaling portfolio companies have access to the firm’s executive council, which consists of leaders in the global technology industry.

The firm invests in the UK, EU and USA, focusing on healthcare, cleantech, consumer, media, business services and technology. In the UK and EU, its typical initial investments are between £1-10m into companies with at least £1m turnover. Beringea manages more than $700m in funds in the UK and the US. In the UK, Beringea manages three VCTs, including ProVen VCT and ProVen Growth and Income VCT. It is also a co-manager of the Michigan Growth Capital Partners Funds in the USA.

Between January 2014 to June 2021 Beringea supported 37 UK-based companies in 51 fundraising rounds, investing a total of £321m. 

Current scaleups in its portfolio include the photography ecommerce business MPB (see 2020 scaleup stories) and Britain’s leading e-sports brand Fnatic. It has also invested in Utilis, which uses satellite-based technology to detect drinking water pipeline leaks, and Moonshot, which reaches people at risk of violent extremism to offer them an alternative path. The average turnover of companies supported by Beringea in the period between January 2014 to June 2021 was £21.2m and the average number of employees was 93.

The firm runs its own Scaleup Academy, an annual programme of events and training to help the leadership teams of its portfolio companies overcome barriers to scale, and emphasises its capabilities in assisting the transatlantic expansion strategies of its portfolio companies.

It has also been a leading figure in the creation of an industry initiative – ESG_VC – to support early-stage companies to measure, monitor and maximise their performance against key ESG metrics.

BGF describes itself as “the world’s most active growth capital investor.” Since its formation in 2011, it has backed more than 400 British and Irish companies. The investor supports a range of growing companies – early stage, growth stage and quoted – across every region and sector of the economy, and on average invests in more than one company per week. 

It makes long-term equity investments in return for a minority, non-controlling stake in the companies it backs. Initial investments are between £1m-£15m, which can be followed by significant follow-on funding.

The company has 16 offices in the UK and Ireland. Four-fifths of its investments are made into companies based outside of Greater London. Scaleups that it has backed include Gousto (in which it has participated in eight funding rounds), Decora, Emma Bridgewater and Seasalt. It has recently created a specialist advisory board in order to solidify its position in the life sciences sector. 

It has a specialist internal team of more than 180 people, combined with an international network of business leaders, sector experts and non-executive directors, providing a platform and capability to support management teams’ ambitions for growth. This is reinforced by dedicated in-house support with chair and senior executive selection and appointments through its 6,000-strong Talent Network.

This year BGF led the inaugural Scaleup Week, a week-long series of virtual events, with the ScaleUp Institute.

The British Business Bank’s Enterprise Capital Funds (ECF) programme combines private and public money to make equity investments in high growth businesses. It is designed to increase the supply of equity to UK growth companies and to lower the barriers to entry for fund managers looking to operate in the venture capital market. It is working with 35 Fund partners across the UK.

Since their inception in 2006, 36 ECFs have been launched, supporting more than 600 innovative growing businesses across a range of sectors. The top five sectors supported by ECFs are SaaS, AI, industrials, e-commerce, and healthcare – 53 per cent of the investments are outside of London.

The British Business Bank invests alongside VC funds on terms that improve the outcome for private investors when those funds are successful. The ECF programme has helped over 35 fund managers to raise their first institutional fund and 84% of the fund managers they have invested in prior to 2016 have already gone to raise a further fund. The average size of an ECF has increased from £20m to closer to £60m during the lifetime of the programme.

From inception, the ECF programme has committed more than £1.66bn of finance, of which the British Business Bank has contributed almost £900m. The bank operates a rolling investment programme for commitments to new ECFs and welcomes new applications from UK fund managers.

In 2021, British Business Bank, as part of the ECF programme, was the cornerstone investor in Redrice Ventures’ first venture capital fund worth £50m and also Form Ventures £30m Fund II.

The current fund managers include: Active Partners, Ada Ventures, Amadeus Capital Partners, Catapult Ventures, Dawn Capital, Edge Investment, Eka Ventures, Entrepreneur First, Episode 1, Epidarex Capital, Foresight Group, Form Ventures, Imbiba, IQ Capital, Jam Jar Investments, Longwall Ventures, Notion Capital, Panoramic Growth Equity, Passion Capital, Pentech, Redrice, Seraphim Capital, Sussex Place Ventures, VGC Partners.

Crowdcube invests in UK companies and has offices in Exeter and London.

Online equity crowdfunding platforms, on which businesses pitch to receive investment, have become an established conduit for finance among seed, early-stage and scaling businesses, bridging the gap from family and friends funding rounds and later, larger institutional rounds. The institutionalisation of equity-based crowdfunding continues as VC firms, professional and retail investors co-invest on and with the platforms. 

While the average amount raised on the platform is £800,000, with funding available as equity investment or mini-bonds, the size of investment rounds has increased in the past year. Since January 2014, there have been 367 growth stage investments made into UK companies. In the second quarter of 2021, the platform held several of its largest-ever fundraisings – for banking platform Curve, transport app Citymapper and battery metals business Cornish Lithium. 

Food and drink companies, mobile apps, internet platforms and e-commerce have been the most popular sectors among companies raising finance on the platform. Notable scaleups to have repeatedly used the Crowdcube platform to access equity finance include what3words, BrewDog, Monzo and Revolut. 

The platform provides companies that raise funds via the platform with access to a help centre and a campaigns team, access to a network of founders, and support with marketing and investor relations. Recently, it has launched Cubex, a secondary marketplace to enable retail investors to buy and sell shares in high-growth private European companies. This reflects the maturing age, size and profile of companies raising capital via Crowdcube.

The Development Bank of Wales was initially established as Finance Wales in 2001 by the Welsh Assembly Government. In October 2017, it was renamed as the Development Bank of Wales and strengthened as a national financial institution with greater scope to provide commercial funding to businesses in Wales.

It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Welsh Government, providing Welsh businesses with capital to start up, strengthen and grow, and directing public funds to where they can have the most impact. The bank provides loans, property loans, seed and acquisition finance and equity investments between £50,000 to £5m.

In the financial year ending 31 March 2021 the Development Bank of Wales directly invested a total of £197.6m into over 400 Welsh businesses, including £105.6m of non-covid related support. 47% of these investments have been made into its existing portfolio. The bank’s investment activity covers all three Welsh regions, in 2020/21 (excluding CWBLS funding) £49.6m was invested in South Wales, £31m in Mid and West Wales and £25m in North Wales.  Further private sector capital of £60m was invested alongside its funds.

The Development Bank of Wales’ total equity investment in the year was £13.8m, of which £9.4m was in 38 tech ventures. To date thirty businesses have received investment in excess of £1m. Scaleups that it has supported include BookingLive and Litelok.

The Bank co-invests alongside other banks, VCs, angel investors, crowdfunding platforms and grant funders. It has a network of dedicated, local account managers. Referrals are also made to Business Wales for business advice and support. During 2018/19 the Bank established Angels Invest Wales, which now provides businesses access to more than 250 angel investors and syndicates through an online platform. It is working to increase the diversity of its investor base, currently 9% of investors on the platform are female. Angels Invest Wales has made 31 investments with a total value of £2.6m. 

Molten Ventures (previously Draper Esprit) invests in venture and growth-stage companies based in Europe. Founded in 2006, with offices in London, Dublin and Cambridge, it invests primarily in four sectors: consumer technology, enterprise technology, hardware and electronics, and digital health and wellness. 

The firm makes between ten to 20 new investments annually, including follow-on, typically investing between £2m to £50m. Notable scaleups which it has supported include Graphcore, Lyst, PrimaryBid, Freetrade, PushDoctor and Cazoo.

Five years after the firm’s admission to AIM, in 2021 it moved its listing onto the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange with a secondary listing on Euronext Dublin. The 67 companies in the portfolio at the end of its last financial year had a valuation of £984m. The firm says that this demonstrates how “publicly listed venture capital is a powerful force for supporting entrepreneurs on their own long-term journeys to outsized success.” As a listed VC firm, it says that it is “free from five-year fund cycles;” and in June 2021 it raised £111m on the public markets. 

Between 2014 to June 2021, it invested a total of £1.49bn in 41 UK companies in 65 fundraising rounds. The average turnover of these companies was £24.4m and the estimated average number of employees was 135. 

The firm is the European arm of the global Draper Venture Network – which comprises 24 independent VC firms from across the world – to help its portfolio companies develop relationships with global corporates, launch into new markets and connect with international investors.

Eight Roads provides venture and growth-stage capital, investing in technology and healthcare companies that are in their scaleup phase.

With its origins stretching back to 1969 as Fidelity Ventures, the firm has its head office in London with other offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Mumbai, Tokyo, Hamilton, Boston and Stockholm. Eight Roads invests in companies based in Europe, US, India, Japan and China.

It has backed 19 UK companies since 2014. Out of all these investments, the majority have been into London-based companies with the average size of its investment round being £33.1m. Notable UK scaleups in which the firm has invested include Deliveroo, MADE and notonthehighstreet. In the past year it has invested in online ordering business Slerp, surgical AR Proximie, and eco-laundry Smol, as well as the savings app Moneybox.

The firm says that it backs founders “with high conviction” and is selective about the number of investments it makes. Its principal investment team takes a patient capital approach which it says is appropriate for the long development times for healthcare companies, particularly in therapeutics. It offers guidance on a range of topics such as building sales teams, accessing new export markets through its online platform and also hosts international market events for portfolio companies. 

Established in 2004, it is an FCA regulated finance adviser in the UK, offering screened opportunities to an international network of more than 4,500 angel investors investing an average of £42,000 in high-growth unquoted companies seeking £250,000 to £2m in equity funding – with many companies having been supported through several rounds.

Envestors connects investors and scaleup businesses through its digital investment technology which provides a white label platform for accelerators, incubators and angel networks.

In the period between January 2014 to June 2021, it supported 78 UK companies in 105 fundraisings. Scaleups currently supported by Envestors include Heartstone Inns, Dymag and Scratch.

Its Envestry for Scaleups provides a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform which can be used to automate the application process for businesses seeking support, showcase investment opportunities to investors in a secure area and allow its investors to track opportunities and manage their portfolio.

Describing itself as “a distributed, global company,” Index Ventures is an international venture capital firm with dual headquarters in San Francisco and London. It invests in technology-enabled companies with a focus on e-commerce, fintech, mobility, gaming, infrastructure/AI, and security. 

Between January 2014 to June 2021, the firm invested £1.6bn in 61 UK companies in 93 funding rounds. Index will invest up to £50m for growth-stage companies; the average size of its investment round into UK companies since 2014 is £17.7m. 

In the past 12 months, it has supported scaleups such as online flower seller Bloom & Wild, recruitment software company Beamery, online used car platform Motorway, and apprenticeship tracking service Multiverse. 

In announcing three funds in 2021 that amount to over $3.1bn, the firm argues that “what used to be venture capital’s primary product – capital – is no longer its main selling point. The next generation of entrepreneurs is looking for expertise and personal relationships with their investors, where we become partners, advisors, mentors and coaches.” 

The firm also produces Index Resources, comprising guides, podcasts, plans and playbooks for companies seeking to expand into the US and Europe, as well as a guide to stock options for rewarding talent.

Now 20 years old, IP Group is an FTSE-250 listed IP commercialisation company which has developed more than 300 companies. With a focus on life sciences, deeptech and cleantech, it invests in university spin-outs at seed, venture and growth stages and assists them with the commercialisation of their new products and services, with technology transfer, IP licensing and protection. It continues to invest in portfolio companies as they scale. Companies in its portfolio have raised £1bn in the first half of IP Group’s current financial year. 

The firm has a long-term partnership model with UK universities and developed an approach to supporting businesses from “cradle to maturity,” including assistance with executive search and recruitment and raising growth stage capital from co-investors. It currently has partnerships with 17 UK universities, six US universities and nine universities in Australia and New Zealand. 

The company owns Parkwalk Advisors, an active EIS investor in university spin-outs of ‘hard science’ companies, and has stakes in Oxford Sciences Innovation and Cambridge Innovation Capital. 

Cumulatively, in the period between January 2014 to June 2021, IP Group (including the Parkwalk funds) has supported 77 UK-based companies in 122 fundraising rounds amounting to £1.16bn. The average turnover of these companies was £7.54m and the estimated average number of employees was 38.

Notable UK scaleups in its portfolio include the unicorns Oxford Nanopore and Hinge Health, as well as autonomous vehicle software company Oxbotica and life sciences companies Centessa Pharmaceuticals and Istesso.

LDC is the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group and has been an active investor in UK companies since 1981, during which time it has supported over 650 management teams and invested more than £5.5bn in mid-sized businesses. 

It backs management teams from UK-based medium sized companies seeking up to £100m of investment to fund management buyouts or development capital transactions. Its initial investments are between £10m and £50m and it looks to invest £400m per annum. Its investment criteria are that a company must demonstrate minimum revenues of £5m with profits of £1m and a two-year profits history. 

The firm invests solely in UK companies and has 12 locations in the UK. In the first half of 2021, for example, it invested in Bristol-based digital media group Hybrid, Southampton-based equestrian brand LeMieux and Rochdale-based Wireless CCTV, a supplier of surveillance solutions. Notable scaleups include Babble, Sohonet, Plimsoll Productions and Croud. 

In the period between January 2014 to June 2021, it invested in 49 companies whose average turnover was £30.7m and average employee count was 231.

Portfolio companies are provided with sector-specific guidance, access to an executive network, and peer network opportunities with other portfolio companies. A value creation team of experts is available to help identify particular pressure points and new growth opportunities, supporting management teams with projects from sales effectiveness, to digital marketing, procurement and operations.

In addition, LDC’s “Backing Youth Ambition” partnership with The Prince’s Trust aims to support over 1,200 young entrepreneurs across the UK over the next three years. It publishes an annual list of the 50 most ambitious business leaders.

Livingbridge is a private equity firm that has been investing in four sectors – healthcare and education, services, consumer and TMT – for more than 20 years, making more than 100 investments.

It typically makes investments between £5m to £100m, taking a flexible approach – it will provide growth capital, as well as funding management buy-outs and secondary buy-outs and replacement capital deals. 

The average size of its investment round into UK companies since 2014 is £14.3m. In the period between 2014 to June 2021, the firm invested a total of £228m in 22 UK companies in 26 fundraising rounds. The average turnover of those companies was £18.4m and their average number of employees was 184.

This year it has raised its largest fund (Livingbridge 7 – £1.25bn) to focus on equity investments of up to £150m in high-growth, entrepreneurial businesses with enterprise values of up to £300m.

Scaleups in its portfolio include insurance broker Jensten, data security and compliance provider Semafone, and email signature management business Exclaimer.

The firm has offices in London, Birmingham and Manchester and an Australian office in Melbourne to make primary investments in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. It has an office in Boston to support expansion and M&A in the US.

To support the growth strategies of its portfolio companies, Livingbridge has developed its “growth accelerators,” which it describes as “core value creation capabilities designed to unlock a business’s potential.” Its in-house growth acceleration team is made up of market experts principally covering international growth, corporate development, customer acquisition and retention, talent and technology. Its managing partner, Wol Kolade, is a founder of The 10,000 Black Interns programme, which will offer paid work experience across a wide range of sectors, providing training and development opportunities and creating a sustainable cycle of mentorship and sponsorship for the Black community.

Notion invests exclusively in the European enterprise tech and B2B SaaS sectors. Located in London, it has made over 80 investments since its inception in 2009.

In the period between January 2014 to June 2021, Notion invested a combined £814m in 34 UK-based companies in 67 fundraising rounds. The average turnover of these companies was £14.7m and their average number of employees was 62.

Notable scaleups in its portfolio include Go Cardless, revenue delivery platform Paddle, and gym management software provider GloFox. It makes frequent follow-on investments. The average size of its investment round into UK companies since 2014 is £9.5m.

Over the past four years, the firm has conducted an annual Net Promoter Score survey to gather feedback from founders and CEOs in the portfolio – as a consequence of the last survey, the firm is focusing its efforts on building up its relationships with international VCs, particularly those in the US, to support the expansion strategies of its portfolio companies.

Notion continues to lead and support Included VC, a 12-month programme designed to offer access for under-represented communities to the venture capital industry.

Octopus Titan is the UK’s largest Venture Capital Trust (VCT) with approximately £1.2bn of funds under management. In 2017, the ScaleUp Institute identified it as an exemplar of how the wider VCT industry has the potential and capacity to provide assistance to all stages of scaleup growth. The latest government statistics report 62 VCTs currently managing funds in the UK. Titan VCT is managed by Octopus Ventures.

Titan VCT typically invests £1m-£5m in a first round investment and has the capability to follow on its investments up to £20m with the intention to hold a portfolio of largely unquoted technology companies that are VCT qualifying. As at October 2021, the portfolio consisted of over 90 high-growth potential businesses – many of which have continued to grow rapidly despite the pandemic. In the year to April 2021, Octopus Titan VCT’s £120m fundraising was the largest of any UK VCT. Key sectors for the VCT include health, fintech, deep tech, consumer and B2B software.

In the twelve months to 30 June 2021, the VCT invested £95m into 40 companies, including follow-on investments into some of the existing portfolio companies. Notable scaleups that the VCT supports include pet insurance provider Bought By Many, femtech company Elvie, used car platform Cazoo, digital medicine company Big Health.

Since Titan launched in 2007, the Octopus Ventures team has grown from five to more than 65 people including its Venture Partners, a group of entrepreneurs and business experts who offer best-in-class expertise in areas such as leadership, sales and international expansion. Support for its portfolio companies also comes through a network of coaches and a “talent team” to specifically advise on talent, recruitment and retention. More than 50% of the investment team have founded a business themselves. 

Octopus Ventures has increased its investment team significantly and has added further operational support to ensure it continues to be able to make new investments and manage the expanding portfolio appropriately. In 2021 Titan has been investing along with funds from Octopus’ new Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) service, Octopus Ventures EIS, launched in Autumn 2020. The Octopus Group is the largest solar investor in Europe. They also invest in landfill gas sites, wind farms and biomass plants.

Partech makes equity investments at seed, venture and growth stage, operating through five funds, with investments ranging between €200,000 to €50m.

With offices in San Francisco, Paris, Berlin and Dakar, Partech’s investment focus is on technology and digital businesses in the UK, US and Europe and is developing its presence in Asia and Africa. Globally, the firm has invested nearly $260M ($155M in 18 new companies and $105M in 42 follow-on investments) since the start of 2021.

In the period between January 2014 to June 2021, Partech supported 15 UK-based companies across 26 fundraising rounds, investing a total of £404m. The average size of its investment round into UK companies since 2014 is £15.5m. The firm has backed UK scaleups such as Privitar, Fresha, Maze and Push Doctor. 

In support of its portfolio companies, Partech provides coaching on strategy, operations, executive hiring, board structure, as well as preparation for M&A and build-ups. The firm has launched Partech Shaker, a nine-story building in central Paris designed for tech startups and scaleups.

Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) is a late stage venture and growth equity investor focused on technology and technology-enabled companies based in the UK and Ireland, and selectively in other parts of Europe. It has offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London. Over the last 20 years it has invested in 160 companies.

The firm invests between £5m to £25m but also funds larger deals, co-investing with others, including its own fund investors. Between the period of January 2014 to June 2021, the firm has participated in 28 fundraisings for 19 scaling businesses, investing a total of £​​163m with an average fundraising size of £6.8m.

SEP plays an active and supportive role in the growth and development of its portfolio companies. It has a strong track record in supporting its portfolio companies with talent acquisition, building leadership capability, and assisting international growth.

The firm has previously backed – and exited from – notable scaleups such as Skyscanner, Sport Pursuit and Dotmatics. Scaleups in its current portfolio include LoveCrafts, Basis Technologies and Totally Money.

The firm, which is a signatory to the Women in Finance Charter, has a 38% female representation in its senior management positions. It provides financial support to the Strathclyde Entrepreneurs Fund, which provides early stage investment in companies and ventures run by University of Strathclyde staff, students and alumni.

Seedrs operates a pan-European equity crowdfunding platform with its headquarters in London and hubs in Berlin, Amsterdam and Lisbon. Since its formation in 2012, approximately £1.3bn has been invested on the Seedrs platform and a total of 1,429 deals have been funded.

The majority of investments are made at the seed stage – in the period between January 2014 to June 2021, 43% of the deals were growth stage investments. In the 12 months to June 2021, the platform has been used by scaleups such as Tandem, SafetoNet and OnBuy.

Its Alumni Club also serves Seedrs-funded businesses through a dedicated community featuring valuable tools, bespoke resources, curated events, discounts and an online community portal.